Volume 1, Chapter 9 -- Travels of William
de Rubruquis into Tartary, about the year 1253.

*Introduction**Dedication by the Author**Section 1* -- Commencement
of the Journey*Section 2* -- Of the Tartars
and their Houses*Section 3* -- Of their Beds
and Drinking-cups*Section 4* -- Of their Kinds
of Drink, and Fashion of Drinking*Section 5* -- Of their Food*Section
6* -- How they make the Drink called Cosmos*Section
7* -- Of the Beasts they eat, of their Garments, and of their Hunting
parties*Section
8* -- Of the Fashion of their Hair, and the Ornaments of their Women*Section
9* -- Of the Duties and Labours of the Women, and of their Nuptials*Section
10* -- Of their Laws and Judgments, and of their Death and Burial*Section
11* -- Of our first Entering among the Tartars, and of their Ingratitude*Section
12* -- Of the Court of Zagathai, and how the Christians drink no Cosmos*Section
13* -- How some Alanians visited them on the Eve of Pentecost*Section
14* -- Of a Saracen who desired to be Baptized, and of men who seemed
Lepers*Section
15* -- Of our Distresses, and of the Comanian funerals*Section
16* -- Of the Dominions and Subjects of Sartach*Section
17* -- Of the Magnificence of the Court of Sartach*Section
18* -- They are ordered to proceed to Baatu, the Father of Sartach*Section
19* -- Of the Reverence shewn by Sartach, Mangu-khan, and Ken-chan,
to the Christians*Section
20* -- Of the Russians, Hungarians, Alanians, and of the Caspian*Section
21* -- Of the Court of Baatu, and our Entertainment there*Section
22* -- The Journey to the Court of Mangu-khan*Section
23* -- Of the River Jaic or Ural, and of sundry Regions and Nations*Section
24* -- Of the Hunger, Thirst, and other Miseries we endured*Section
25* -- Of the Execution of Ban, and concerning the residence of certain
Germans*Section
26* -- How the Nestorians and Mahometans are mixed with Idolaters*Section
27* -- Of their Temples and Idols, and the Worship of their Gods*Section
28* -- Of sundry Nations, and of certain People who used to eat their
Parents*Section
29* -- Of Cailac, and the Country of the Naymans*Section
30* -- Description of the Country of the Naymans, with an Account of
the Death of Ken-khan and of his Wife and Eldest Son*Section
31* -- Arrival at the Court of Mangu-khan*Section
32* -- The Introduction of Rubruquis to Mangu-khan*Section
33* -- Of a Woman of Lorain, and a Goldsmith of Paris, and several
other Christians, whom they found at the Court of Mangu-khan*Section
34* -- Of a Grand Feast given by Mangu-khan and of the Ceremonies of
the Nestorians*Section
35* -- Of a great Cure performed by the Armenian monk Sergius, on one
of the Wives of Mangu-khan*Section
36* -- Account of the Country under the Dominion of the Great Khan
of the Manners and Customs of his Subjects; of a Wonderful Piece of Mechanism,
constructed by a French Goldsmith; and of the Palace of the Khan at Caracarum*Section
37* -- Of certain disputes between Rubruquis and the Saracens and Idolaters,
at the Court of Mangu-khan, respecting Religion*Section
38* -- The last audience of Rubruquis with Mangu-khan, and the letter
he received for the King of France*Section
39* -- The departure of Rubruquis from the Court of Mangu-khan, and
his journey by Saray and other places, to Tripoly in Syria

INTRODUCTION.[1]

These travels were undertaken by order of Louis IX. of France, usually
called St. Louis. In the original, or at least in the printed copies which
have come down to our times, Rubruquis is said to have commenced his journey
in the year 1253; but this date is attended with some difficulties, as
we are certain that king Louis was a prisoner from 1249 to 1254. It is
possible, indeed, that he may have dispatched this mission while a prisoner;
yet it is more probable, that the date may have been vitiated in transcription.
The real name of this early traveller, who was a friar of the minorite
order, is said to have been Van Ruysbroek,[2] from a village of that name
near Brussels, Latinized, or Frenchified rather, into De Rubruquis. By
Hakluyt he is named Rubruk. The version here offered to the public, is
a translation from the Latin copy in Hakluyt, as addressed by the adventurous
traveller to his royal master, after his return from traversing the whole
extent of Tartary; the English translation, by that early and meritorious
collector, being far too antiquated for modern readers.

To the Most Excellent and Most Christian Lord Louis, by the Grace of
GOD the illustrious King of the French; Friar William de Rubruquís,
the meanest of the Minorite Order, wisheth health and continual triumph
in CHRIST JESUS.

It is written in the book of Ecclesiasticus, "That the truly wise man
shall travel through strange countries; for he hath tried the good and
evil among men." All this, Sire, I have performed; and I wish I may have
done so as a wise man, and not as a fool. For many do foolishly those things
which have been done by wise men, and I fear I may be reckoned among that
number. But as you were pleased to command me at my departure, that I should
write down every thing I saw among the Tartars, and should not fear to
write long letters, I now therefore obey your orders, yet with awe and
reverence, as wanting fit language in which to address so great a king.

Volume 1, Chapter 9, Section 1 -- Commencement of the
Journey.

Be it known, therefore, to your sacred majesty, that in the year 1253,
on the 7th of May, we entered into the sea of Pontus, which the Bulgarians
call the Great Sea;[1] which I was informed, by certain merchants, is 1008
miles in length, and is in a manner divided, about its middle, into two
parts, by means of two provinces which project into it, one on the north,
and the other on the south. That which is on the south is called Synope,
and contains the castle and port of the Sultan of the Turks. The northern
province is called Gasaria by the Latins,[2] and Cassaria by the Greek
inhabitants of its coast, which is the same with Caesaria; and from thence
certain headlands extend southwards into the sea, towards Synope, from
the nearest part of which they are 300 miles distant; so that the distance
from these points to Constantinople is 700 miles in length and breadth,
and 700 miles to Hiberia in the east, which is a province of Georgia.

We arrived in the province of Gasaria, or Casaria, which is of a triangular
form, having a city named Kersova on its western extremity, in which St.
Clement suffered martyrdom. While sailing past that city, we saw an island
containing a church, which is said to have been built by the angels. In
the middle of this province, and on a cape to the south, stands the city
of Soldaia, directly facing Synope. And here all merchants land who come
from Turkey, in their way to the north, and embark here again on their
return from Russia and the north for Turkey; these latter bring ermines
and martins, and other valuable furs, and the former carry cloths made
of cotton, or bombasins, and silk webs, and aromatic spices. On the east
of this province is the city of Matriga,[3] where the Tanais flows into
the Pontus, by a mouth of twelve miles wide.[4] Before this river enters
the Euxine, it forms itself into a sea towards the north, of seven hundred
miles in length and breadth, but in no place above six paces deep, so that
it is not navigable for large vessels: For which reason, the merchants
of Constantinople, when they arrive at the city of Matriga, send their
barks to the Tanais, where they purchase dried fish, sturgeons, thosas,
barbels, and many other sorts of fish.

This province of Casaria has the sea on three sides; on the west, where
stands Kersova, or the city of St Clement; on the south, where is the city
of Soldaia, at which we landed; and on the east, where Matriga is situated
at the mouth of the Tanais. To the east of that mouth is the city of Zikia,
and the countries of the Suevi and Hiberi still further east, all of which
are not under the dominion of the Tartars. To the south is Trebisond, which
has its own prince, named Guido, who, although of the imperial race of
Constantinople, is under the Tartar dominion; and next to it is Synope,
which belongs to the sultan of the Turks, who is likewise subjected to
the Tartars. Beyond this is the country of Vastacius, whose son is named
Astar, after his maternal grandfather, and this country is not under the
dominion of the Tartars. From the mouth of the Tanais to the Danube, and
even beyond the Danube towards Constantinople, including Walachia, which
is the country of Assanus, and the lesser Bulgaria as far as Solonia, pay
tribute to the Tartars, who of late years have exacted an axe from each
family, and all the corn which they find in heaps, in addition to the regular
tribute.

We landed at Soldaia[5] on the 21st of May, where certain merchants
of Constantinople had previously arrived, who reported that ambassadors
from the Holy Land were coming thither, on their way to Sartach; although
I had publickly declared on palm Sunday, in the church of St Sophia, that
I was no ambassador from you or any one, and only travelled to these infidels,
in conformity with the rule of our order. On our arrival, these merchants
advised me to be cautious of what I said; for, as they had already reported
that I was an ambassador, if I should now say the contrary, I should be
refused a free passage. Upon this, I addressed myself to the lieutenants
of the city, because the captains had gone with the tribute to Baatu, and
were not yet returned: saying, "We have heard in the Holy Land, that your
lord Sartach[6] had become a Christian, which hath greatly rejoiced all
the Christians, and especially the most Christian King of the French, who
is there in pilgrimage, fighting against the Saracens, that he may redeem
the Holy Land out of their hands: Wherefore, I desire to go to Sartach,
that I may carry him letters from the king my master, in which he gives
him intelligence of importance to all Christendom." They received us graciously,
and entertained us hospitably in the cathedral church; the bishop had been
at the court of Sartach, and told me many good things concerning him, which
I did not find afterwards to be true. They then gave us our choice, either
to have carts drawn by oxen, for carrying our baggage, or sumpter horses;
and the Constantinopolitan merchants advised me to purchase covered carts,
like those in which the Russians carry their peltry, in which I should
put every thing which was wanted for daily use; because, if I were to take
packhorses, I should be constrained to pack and unpack at every baiting
place, and that besides, I should ride more easily in the carts than on
horseback. By following their evil advice, I was two months in travelling
to Sartach, which I might have accomplished in one on horseback. I had
brought with me from Constantinople fruits of various kinds, muscadel wine,
and delicate biscuits, to present to the captains, that I might obtain
free passage, having been advised by the merchants, that these persons
gave a very cold reception to such as applied to them empty handed. The
governors or captains being absent, I caused all these things to be packed
up in one of the carts, being informed that they would be acceptable presents
to Sartach.

We began our journey about the beginning of June, having four covered
carts of our own, and two others which they furnished to us, in which we
carried our bedding, and we were allowed five riding horses for ourselves,
our company consisting of five persons; viz. myself and my companion, Friar
Bartholomew of Cremona, Goset, the bearer of these letters, the man of
God Turgeman,[7] and a servant or slave, named Nicholas, whom I had purchased
at Constantinople, out of the alms we had received. The people of Soldaia
likewise allowed us two men to drive our carts, and to take care of our
horses and oxen.

There are several lofty promontories on the shore of Casaria, between
Kersova[8] and the mouth of the Tanais; and there are forty castles between
Kersova and Soldaia, at almost each of which a distinct language is spoken;
and among these are many Goths who speak the Teutonic language.[9] Beyond
these mountains, towards the north, extends a most beautiful wood, in a
plain, which is full of springs and rivulets; and beyond this wood is an
extensive plain, continuing for five days journey to the northern extremity
of this province, where it contracts into a narrow space, having the sea
on the east and west, and a great ditch is drawn between these two seas.
In this plain the Comani dwelt before the coming of the Tartars, and compelled
the before-mentioned cities and castles to pay tribute; and upon the coming
of the Tartars, so vast a multitude of the Comani took refuge in this province,
flying to the sea shore, that the living were forced to feed upon the dying,
as I was assured by a merchant, an eye-witness, who declared, that the
survivors tore in pieces with their teeth, and devoured the raw flesh of
the dead as dogs do carrion. Towards the extremity of this province, there
are many large lakes, having salt springs on their banks, and when the
water of these springs reaches the lake, it coagulates into hard salt like
ice. From these salt springs, Sartach and Baatu draw large revenues; as
people come from all parts of Russia to procure salt, and for each cart-load,
they pay two webs of cotton cloth, equal in value to half an yperpera.
Many vessels come likewise by sea for salt, all of which pay tribute, in
proportion to the quantities which they carry away. On the third day after
leaving Soldaia, we fell in with the Tartars, on joining whom, I thought
myself entered into a new world; wherefore, I shall use my best endeavours
to describe their manners and way of life.

===========
[1] The Euxine or Black Sea. Though not expressed in the text, he probably
took his departure from Constantinople.--E
[2] By the Latins are here obviously meant the inhabitants of western
Europe. The province here mentioned is the Crimea; the Taurica Chersonesus
of the ancients, or the modern Taurida.--E.
[3] At the mouth of one of the branches of the Kuban is the town of
Temruck, formerly called Tmutrakhan by the Russians, and Tamatarcha by
the Greeks; this has been corrupted to Tamaterca, Materca, and Matriga.--Forst.
[4] This obviously refers to the canal of communication between the
sea of Azoph and the Euxine.--E.
[5] Called likewise Soldeya, Soldadia and Sogdat, now Sudak.--E.
[6] Sartach was the son of Baatu-khan.--E.
[7] This name is probably meant to imply the Trucheman, Dragoman, or
interpreter; and from the strange appellative, Man of God, he may
have been a monk from Constantinople, with a Greek name, having that signification:
perhaps Theander--E.
[8] Cherson or Kersona, called likewise Scherson, Schursi, and Gurzi.--E.
[9] These castles of the Goths, first mentioned by Rubruquis, were
afterwards noticed by Josaphat Barbaro, a Venetian, in 1436; and Busbeck
conversed with some of these Goths from the Crimea at Constantinople in
1562, and gives a vocabulary of their language. From the authority of Rubruquis
misunderstood, some ancient map makers have inserted the Castella Judeorum
instead of Gothorum in the Crimea, and even Danville placed them in his
maps under the name of Chateaux des Juifs, castles of the Jews.--Forst.

Volume 1, Chapter 9, Section 2 -- Of the Tartars and their
Houses.

They have no permanent city, and they are ignorant of the future. They
divide all Scythia among them; and each leader, according to the number
of his followers, knows the boundaries of his pastures, and where he ought
to feed his flocks in winter and summer, and in spring and autumn. In winter
they descend into the warmer regions of the south, and in summer they travel
towards the colder countries of the north. Such pastures as have no water,
are reserved for winter use, when there is snow on the ground, as the snow
there serves instead of water.

The houses in which they sleep are founded on a round structure of wattled
rods, and the roof is formed of wickers, meeting above in a small roundel,
from which arises a neck like a chimney, all of which they cover with white
felt; and they often cover over the felt with lime, or white earth and
powdered bones to make it bright: sometimes their houses are black; and
the felt about the neck of the dome is decorated with a variety of pictures.
Before the door, likewise, they hang a felt, ornamented with painting;
and they employ much coloured felt, painted with vines, trees, birds, and
beasts, for decorating their dwellings. Some of these houses are so large
as to measure thirty feet in breadth. I once measured the distance between
the wheel ruts of one of their waggons to be twenty feet, and when the
house was upon the waggon, it spread beyond the wheels at least five feet
on each side. I have counted twenty-two bullocks dragging one waggon, surmounted
by a house; eleven in one row, according to the breadth or the waggon,
and other eleven before these. The axle of this waggon was very large,
like the mast of a ship; and one man stood in the door of the house, upon
the waggon, urging on the oxen. They likewise make quadrangular structures
of small split wicker, like large chests, and frame for them an arched
lid or cover of similar twigs, having a small door at the front end; and
they cover this chest or small house with black felt, smeared over with
suet or sheeps' milk,[1] to prevent the rain from penetrating; and these
are likewise decorated with paintings or feathers. In these they put all
their household goods and treasure; and they bind these upon higher carts,
drawn by camels, that they may be able to cross rivers without injuring
their contents. These chests are never taken down from the carts to which
they belong. When their dwelling-houses are unloaded from the waggons,
their doors are always turned to the south; and the carts, with the chests
which belong to each house, are drawn up in two rows, one on each side
of the dwelling, at about the distance of a stone's throw.

The married women get most beautiful carts made for themselves, which
I am unable to describe without the aid of painting, and which I would
have drawn for your majesty, if I had possessed sufficient talents. One
rich Moal, or Tartar, will have from a hundred to two hundred such carts
with chests. Baatu has sixteen wives, each of whom has one large house,
besides several small ones, serving as chambers for her female attendants,
and which are placed behind the large house; and to the large house of
each wife there belong two hundred chest-carts. When the camp is formed,
the house of the first wife is placed on the west, and all the rest extend
in one line eastwards, so that the last wife is on the east, or left of
all. And between the station of each wife there is the distance of a stone's
throw, so that the court of a rich Moal appears like a large city, but
in which there are very few men. One girl is able to lead twenty or thirty
carts; for the ground being quite plain, they fasten the carts, whether
drawn by camels or oxen, behind each other, and the girl sits on the front
of the foremost cart of the string, directing the cattle, while all the
rest follow with an equable motion. If they come to any difficult passage,
the carts are untied from each other, and conducted across singly; and
they travel at a very slow pace, only so fast as an ox or a lamb can easily
walk.

===========
[1] The butter from ewe-milk is probably here meant.--E.

Volume 1, Chapter 9, Section 3 -- Of their Beds and Drinking-cups.

After having placed the house on the ground, with its door turned to
the south, the bed of the master is placed to the north, opposite the door.
The place of the women is always on the east, or on the masters left hand,
where he sits on his bed with his face to the south, and the place of the
men on his right hand, to the west; and when any men enter into the house,
they never hang up their quivers on the womens side. Over the head of the
lord there is placed an image or puppet of felt, which is called the masters
brother, and a similar image over the head of the mistress, which is called
her brother; and a little higher between these, there is one very small
and thin, which is, as it were, the keeper of the house. The mistress places
at the foot of her bed, on the right hand, in a conspicuous place, the
skin of a kid, stuffed with wool, or some such material, and beside that
a small puppet looking towards the maidens and women. Near the door, on
the womens side of the house, there is another image, with a cows udder,
as the guardian of the women who milk the kine. On the masters side of
the door is another image, having the udder of a mare, being the tutelary
deity of the men who milk the mares. When they meet together for drinking,
they, in the first place, sprinkle the master's idol with some of the liquor,
and then all the rest in their order; after which a servant goes out of
the house with a cup of drink, and sprinkles thrice towards the south,
making a genuflexion between each, in honour of the fire, then towards
the east, in honour of the air, next towards the west, in honour of the
water, and lastly, towards the north, for the dead. When the lord takes
the cup in his hand to drink, he first pours a part on the ground; and
if he is to drink on horseback, he first spills a portion on the neck and
mane of his horse. After the servant has made his libations to the four
quarters of the world, he returns into the house, and two other servants
are ready with two other cups and salvers, to carry drink to the lord and
his wife, who sit together on a bed. When he has more than one wife, she
with whom he slept the night before sits beside him that day, and all the
other wives must come to her house that day to drink; and all the gifts
which the lord receives that day are deposited in her chests. Upon a bench
there stands vessels of milk and other drinks, and drinking cups.

Volume 1, Chapter 9, Section 4 -- Of their Kinds of Drink,
and Fashion of Drinking.

In winter they make excellent drink of rice, millet, and honey, which
is clear like wine; and they have wine brought to them from distant countries.
In summer they care not for any drink except cosmos, which always stands
within the door, and beside it is a minstrel with his instrument of music.
I saw no citerns, lutes, and viols, such as ours, but they have many other
instruments which we have not. When the lord begins to drink, one of his
servants exclaims aloud Ha! and the minstrel begins to play. When they
make a great feast, all the guests clap their hands and dance to the music,
the men before the lord, and the women before the lady of the house. When
the lord hath drank, the servant calls out as before, and the minstrel
ceases; then all drink round in their turns, both men and women, and they
sometimes carouse on hearing the news of a victory, to a shameful and beastly
degree. When they desire to provoke one to drink, they seize him by the
ears, dragging them strongly, as if to widen his throat, clapping their
hands, and dancing before him. When they mean to do great honour to any
person, one takes a full cup, having one on his right hand, and another
on his left, and these three advance towards him who is to receive the
cup, singing and dancing before him; but when he reaches out his hand to
receive the cup, they suddenly draw back, and come forwards again in the
same manner, and they thus delude him three or four times, till he seems
very eager, when they give him the cup, and keep dancing, singing, and
stamping with their feet, till he has finished his draught.

Volume 1, Chapter 9, Section 5 -- Of their Food.

They eat indifferently of all dead animals, even such as have died of
disease; and among such numbers of cattle and flocks, many animals must
die almost continually. But in summer, when they have plenty of cosmos,
or mares milk, they care little for any other food. When an ox or horse
happens to die, they cut its flesh into thin slices, which they dry in
the sun and air, which preserves it from corruption, and free from all
bad smell. From the intestines of their horses they make sausages, better
than those which are made of pork, and which they eat when newly made,
but the rest of the flesh is reserved for winter use. Of the hides of oxen
they form large bags, which they dry in a wonderful manner in the smoke.
Of the hinder part of their horse skins they fabricate excellent sandals.
They will make a meal for fifty, or even an hundred men, of the carcase
of one ram. This they mince in a bowl, mixed with salt and water, which
is their only seasoning, and then, with the point of a knife, or a little
fork made on purpose, like those with which we eat pears and apples stewed
in wine, they reach to every one of the company a morsel or two, according
to the number; the master of the house having first served himself to his
mind, before any of the rest, and if he gives a particular portion to any
one, that person must eat it up, without giving any of it to another, or
if he is unable to eat the whole, he takes it home with him, or gives it
to his servant to take care of, if he has one, otherwise he puts it into
his own saptargat, or square leather bag, which they carry always
with them for such purposes, or for preserving any bones which they have
not time to pick thoroughly, that they may clean them well afterwards,
and that nothing may be lost.